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Sunday, June 27, 2010

Yesterday, one of SP's friends got married. We did not attend the full mass ceremony in Forest Hills, but we did attend the reception at Heinz History Center. The reception was held in the Great Hall, which is where the vintage vehicles are on display (Conestoga wagon, stainless steel Ford, etc.). SP and I arrived around 4:30 pm and were able to enjoy the museum for a while before the 5:30 pm reception. We took advantage of being early to snap a photo of the centerpieces (above) and the wedding cake:Around 5:30, guests were ushered up to the 4th floor for cocktail hour. There was a bar set up and I chose a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon (there also was a bottle of Merlot and a bottle of Yellowtail Shiraz; I cannot remember the whites other than there was a Chardonnay and a Pinot Grigio). SP had a beer (Sam Adams) and again, I can't remember what, if any, other beer options there were. There also was a table set up with cheese, crackers, and fruit: After enjoying a couple glasses of wine and lots of cheese (smoked gouda and the havarti dill were my favorites) and meeting lots of his friends for the first time (these are his 'roller coaster' friends, so lots of people from out of town), we were ushered back down to the Great Hall for dinner. Everyone had a roll and ball of butter:

The roll was tasty, if a bit hard on the exterior for me, and one of SP's friends raved about the delicious butter. Servers brought everyone a salad: Bibb letuce with gorgonzola, candied walnuts, and dried cherries:A very tasty salad. At this point, I was starting to realize that everyone at our table was a bit of a foodie! Everyone really like the dried cherries instead of the more common dried cranberries or craisins and as one guest put it about the cheese, the stinkier the cheese, the better.

Next came the meals. When we RSVP'd, we had a choice of salmon or chicken. Pretty obvious what SP and I chose! Chicken for me:I really, really enjoyed the smashed red potatoes and asparagus with balsamic and shaved parmesan, but I was surprised the chicken was breaded, and presumably fried not just baked; I had expected it to be a plain breast, maybe seasoned with salt and pepper, and the sauce on top. The sauce was a sun-dried tomato-leek cream sauce. My chicken was a bit dry/tough to cut (of course, for some reason I frequently struggle to cut meat, so maybe it was just me) and I didn't finish it.

SP had the salmon:Like me, he loved the potatoes and asparagus. His fish was tasty, if a wee bit overcooked, and he scraped off the breading on top.

Soon enough it was time to cut the cake, serve coffee, and bring out the cookies! It's Pittsburgh, so of course there were cookies - 200 dozen for 100 guests. We took several photos of tray after tray of cookies:Their wedding cake was only 3 tiers, but once the cake was cut and served, there were 4 kinds of cake - ? Maybe the tiers were just for show and the real, edible cake was never on display? There was carrot cake, chocolate cake, red velvet cake, and a white cake with lemon icing. I can't even remember all the cookies I ate - chocolate chip, pizzelles, little cherry cheesecakes... There were to-go boxes for guests and we returned home with a box of cookies.

I think the Heinz History Center has an exclusive agreement with Common Plea Catering for events hosted at the History Center. I've never dined at The Common Plea restaurant. The History Center is a unique place for a wedding reception. We had fun boarding the trolley and hanging out in it for a while. It was nice to wander through the museum.

It was a very nice wedding and we had a lot of fun - my only regret is that despite being very, very close to the convention center and driving around it several times, I did not spot a single Furry.